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Key information
Programme starts
September 2019
Modes and duration
Application dates
Tuition fees (2019/20)
Note on fees:
The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Fees for subsequent years may increase or otherwise vary. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website.
Entry requirements
The minimum academic requirements are an upper second-class Honours degree (or equivalent) and merit (or equivalent) in a recognised Master’s degree programme and a minimum 65% mark on the Master’s degree dissertation. At least one of the three has to be a first class/distinction (or equivalent). Students applying for the 1+3 without a Master’s degree will need to have a first-class Honours degree (or equivalent).
English language requirements
If your education has not been conducted in the English language, you will be expected to demonstrate evidence of an adequate level of English proficiency.
The English language level for this programme is: Advanced
Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.
International students
Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.
International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below.
Select your country:
Overview
The department welcomes research in all the major sub-fields of political science. This includes international relations, political economy, public policy and management, legal and political theory, comparative politics, and data analysis. The department welcomes research using quantitative and qualitative methods.
Research areas
Academic staff have a strong record of research and publication within all the main subfields of politics, including:
- British politics: constitutional and parliamentary reform, devolution, freedom of information and electoral participation; alternative electoral systems
- Comparative politics and government: democratisation and democracy promotion; the politics of ethnicity; political campaigns and electoral behaviour; comparative urban and local politics; public opinion
- EU politics and public policy: EU decision-making and institutions, regulation and delegation, lobbying, constitutionalism, citizenship and democracy
- Human rights: human rights and non-state actors; corporate responsibility for human rights violations; theories of human rights and justice; adjudication and interpretation in international legal bodies; democracy, religion and human rights standards; trade and human rights; global poverty and human rights; militias, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and transnational corporations
- International relations: international peace and security; globalisation and global governance; international migration; international finance and the political economy of development
- Political economy: comparative and international political economy; distributive politics; public spending and budgeting; economics of happiness; behavioural genetics; political economy of energy and climate change
- Public policy: business-government relations, including EU and the USA; formal models of executive and bureaucratic politics; and public ethics
- Political theory: the history of modern political thought – particularly nationalism, liberalism and republicanism; multiculturalism, toleration and citizenship; democracy and constitutionalism within and beyond the nation state; contemporary political philosophy.
Funding
Departmental and partial bursaries are available for research students applying for entry in 2018.
Several departmental postgraduate teaching assistantships are available annually for enrolled PhD students. The department has AHRC and ESRC Scholarships available for Master's and PhD study. Further details on the department website.
Scholarships relevant to this department are displayed below.
Bentham Scholarship
- Note:
- Deadline is 30 April 2019
- Value:
- Full fees and stipend (4 years)
- Eligibility:
- UK, EU
- Criteria:
- Based on academic merit
UCL Research Opportunity Scholarship
- Note:
- Now closed for 2019/20
- Value:
- Tuition fees plus £17,280 maintenance (3 years)
- Eligibility:
- UK
- Criteria:
- Based on both academic merit and financial need
For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.
Careers
Our research students have entered a wide range of careers including leading academic positions in UK and overseas institutions (universities of Oxford, and Tokyo), international organisations (United Nations, European Commission), private sector (BNP Paribas, GlaxoSmithKline), NGOs (Smithsonian Institution, Amnesty International) and government (Foreign & Commonwealth Office, House of Commons).
Employability
This is one of the few PhD programmes in the UK that provides training in quantitative and qualitative research methods as an intrinsic part of the programme.
Networking
Networking opportunities involve particular institutional and departmental connections with key external people and institutions. These are supplementary to the taught element and include speakers from Whitehall, lectures from policymakers and academics, and alumni talking to current students.
Why study this degree at UCL?
Department: Political Science
Application and next steps
Applications
Students are advised to apply as early as possible due to competition for places. Those applying for scholarship funding (particularly overseas applicants) should take note of application deadlines.
Application deadlines
- All applicants
- 30 April 2019
Deadlines and start dates are usually dictated by funding arrangements so check with the department or academic unit to see if you need to consider these in your application preparation. In most cases you should identify and contact potential supervisors before making your application. For more information see our How to apply page.
For more information see our Applications page.
Apply nowContact information
- Political Science PhD Administrator
- polsci.admissions@ucl.ac.uk
- +44 (0)20 7679 4982/4950